THE AMAZING CITY OF FLORENCE

Walking towards the Piazza

Florence, Firenze, is a very beautiful and notable city of Italy. It is in the unique and beautiful Province of Tuscany. Florence is a must visit place, at least once in a lifetime. I would say if you have not seen Firenze, than what have you seen?

No one can talk about Art, Renaissance, Sculpture, Poetry, European History, and Astronomy, Political thought and Philosophy or anything else that one can associate with human beings and beauty without a reference to Florence. 

The house where Dante was born

This is the place where lived the great Dante, (1265 to 1321). Yes indeed, he was the great writer of the “Divine Comedy", which is considered a masterpiece of world literature.

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564), belonged to Florence too. His statue of David epitomizes the beauty of the male figure. It is magnificent and quite gigantic. This statue was made by Michelangelo when he was just 26 years old. The most beautiful Sistine Chapel of Rome has the ceiling painted by Michelangelo. The Genesis, Creation of Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden and The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel are truly amazing frescoes made by Michelangelo. One can keep looking at these frescoes for hours.  He was appointed architect of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and designed its dome.

Rafael, ( 1483 – 1520) another great painter and a contemporary of Michelangelo also worked in Florence.

Galileo ( 1564 – 1642), was a physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who belonged to Florence. He told us that the earth revolved around the Sun. His revolutionary theory made him face the Inquisition and he had to spend the rest of his life under house arrest!

 Botticello(1445 to 1510) another painter also belonged here.

Machiavelli(1469 to 1527), a great philosopher, and political thinker was also from Florence! He gave us very futuristic thoughts on governance. Amongst many of his thoughts one which really struck me was when he says that living virtuously does not necessarily lead to happiness! He also said that it would be best both to be loved and feared. But since the two rarely come together, anyone compelled to choose, will find greater security in being feared than loved! What radical and amazing thoughts!!

Florence Nightingale the famous Nurse and Lady with the lamp was born here.

Leonardo da Vincy

Could I forget to mention Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519)? He was the one who gave us the famous Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and The Vitruvian Man. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician,engineer, inventor, anatomist. He had conceptualized a helicopter,a tank, solar power and also a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics. Few of his designs were constructed or feasible during his lifetime .

Ghilberti (1378-1455) was another person from Florence best known for sculpture and metal working.

Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) was a Florentine explorer, navigator and cartographer. The Americas are generally believed to have been named after him. He worked for the Medici's (pronounced Ma-Dee-chee) and helped finance and outfit expeditions to the new world. In 1497 he embarked on the first voyage to the Americas. 

There must have been something in the air or water of this place to have given the world such great people with so much talent and craft from such diverse fields!! The famous twentieth century fashion designers Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Robert Cavalli also were born in Florence.

Ponte Vecchio-Old Bridge

Florence is situated on the bank of the River Arno. At one time there were a number of bridges across the river. The retreating Germans after World War II blew up and destroyed all the bridges but one. The Ponte Vecchio which literally means the old bridge was spared on the orders of Hitler. This bridge still has shops built on it. The shops once belonged to butchers but now there are jewellers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. The bridge is very beautiful and is Europe's oldest stone bridge. 

The Piazza della Signoria is an L-shaped square in front of the Town Hall and is the hub of the city. It is the meeting point of Florentines. Almost all important places to see are located near this square.

Town hall with David in front.

Palazzo Vecchio is the Town hall of the city. The Town hall over looks the Square and a copy of the statue of David is in front of this palace. The original David is now kept inside a Museum.

Loggia dei Lanzi

Loggia dei Lanzi is a building next to the Piazza. This place has wide arches, three wide bays and an open air gallery for beautiful statues. One can find the statues of all the famous Florentines in this Gallery.

The Duomo

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is also called The Duomo and is a Cathedral complex. It is located in Piazza del Duomschi. It was begun in 1296 and completed in 1436. The external wall of the Church is covered with marble in shades of green, pink and white. The effect is very modern and beautiful. The basilica is one of Italy's largest churches, and until the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. To this day it remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The doors, windows and Dome of this Church are worth looking at. Work and improvements have continued on this Church up to the 19th Century.

Florence is famous for its leather work. One can get a great selection of handmade handbags, jackets, wallets, briefcases and shoes in Florence. Tuscan cuisine, appreciated the world over for its fine natural and flavourful ingredients, is the most wholesome, healthy and tasty diet.  There is a lot of wild asparagus, tomatoes and herbs such as basil, thyme and rosemary used in cooking, which is always done in Olive oil bought from the local olive press. The Florentines prefer high quality in taste and the recipes are simple to make.  
Florence stands at the heart of one of the most famous wine regions in the world. One can taste some of the most renowned wines in their place of production. Florence has remarkable wines, the most famous being Chianti. Florence is one of the most important fashion cities and it boasts valuable labels like Gucci, Ferragamo and Cavalli.

Florence has been an important scientific centre for centuries. Galileo and other scientists pioneered the study of optics, ballistics, astronomy, anatomy over here.
Bankers of Florence financed navigators and explorers who pioneered the route around Africa to India and the Far East.  

The History of Florence cannot be complete without a mention of the Medici’s. They were the most powerful family in Florence from the 15th to 18th century. They were a political dynasty, banking family and later became a Royal house by virtue of money power. There were four Popes of the Catholic Church from the House of Medici.
 Medici Bank was a prosperous and respected Institution in Europe. My Banker friends would be interested in knowing that the Double Entry book keeping system for tracking Debit and Credit was developed by the accountants working for the Medici’s, which brought about an improvement in the General Ledger System. 

A door panel by Ghilberti

The Uffizi gallery which is one of the finest art museums in the world was largely founded on a large bequest from the last member of the Medici family.

 Florence is indeed a City which actually bewilders me. Why was there so much talent of such diverse nature all available in this small town in that era? Art, Painting, Sculpting, architecture, frescoes, Literature, Science, explorers,Astronomy, money,accounting, leather, wine, fashion,you name it and Florence had it! It is an amazing place which nurtured so much talent! It baffles me no end to think of all the development and progress of Science, Art and Exploration achieved  with the kind of Instruments and amenities available then.
Some places are naturally very beautiful, some have immense History, some have artificially created beauty, but Florence has something which nurtures talent and brings out the immense potential of human beings!
Wow! What a place! Hats off to you immortal Florence!